Nikola Milenković / Никола Миленковић - „The SERBINATOR“

Tricky Tourist said:
He's looked lost without Murillo at times this season. Their first goal tonight he was all at sea for.
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This is true but when you suddenly are put next to Abbott & Morato, his mind is now having to focus on the duties of 2 others rather than just himself.

Murillo would probably look lost next to those 2 as well.

Cunha has looked good both times he has played for us, I’m sick of seeing Morato, he is shit.
 
I don't want to be overly critical because he was a massive part of our success, but..and i've thought this all season - you can see why we got him for 12million. He's a pure box defender and in comparison to last season, he has been to put it nicely, below par.
 
tomw94 said:
This is true but when you suddenly are put next to Abbott & Morato, his mind is now having to focus on the duties of 2 others rather than just himself.

Murillo would probably look lost next to those 2 as well.

Cunha has looked good both times he has played for us, I’m sick of seeing Morato, he is shit.
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I've never seen Milenkovic having to come outside of the box to the right wing so many times. He knew Abbott was getting toasted down that side and was having to do Abbott's job for him at times.

I bet Milenkovic couldn't believe that Dyche didn't change things at the very latest by half time.
 
tomw94 said:
This is true but when you suddenly are put next to Abbott & Morato, his mind is now having to focus on the duties of 2 others rather than just himself.

Murillo would probably look lost next to those 2 as well.

Cunha has looked good both times he has played for us, I’m sick of seeing Morato, he is shit.
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I think we need to start considering that Morato is fine if we want to go to 3 at the back to close out a match but if we are looking to start in a back two and Murillo is not available that needs to be someone more mobile and less error prone.

I am not convinced Cunha is it, he has not looked bad when he has played, but he hasn't really shown he is PL standard yet either, so this need more evidence to try. And I'm also not convinced that we should go down the route of "let's play him because he can't be worse than Morato" because generally Morato is a very good defender, he just lacks pace and is prone to the odd error (perhaps as a result of the lack of pace).

With Boly not being included at all it seems that the only other alternative is Abbott, who doesn't seem that slow (he's been playing RB) but is still a young player.

I think it's clear why we were able to get Milenkovic for so little and how no-one has been interested in taking him. A good defender he is, but he is also not particularly quick and doesn't have good distribution. Murillo and he seem to complement each other well and hide each others' weaknesses but he has been at fault for quite a few situations this season even with Murillo playing.

If there is at least some serious intention to sell Murillo let's hope the club are on for a replacement as next season could be a long one...
 
Statto said:
I think we need to start considering that Morato is fine if we want to go to 3 at the back to close out a match but if we are looking to start in a back two and Murillo is not available that needs to be someone more mobile and less error prone.

I am not convinced Cunha is it, he has not looked bad when he has played, but he hasn't really shown he is PL standard yet either, so this need more evidence to try. And I'm also not convinced that we should go down the route of "let's play him because he can't be worse than Morato" because generally Morato is a very good defender, he just lacks pace and is prone to the odd error (perhaps as a result of the lack of pace).
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I completely agree with your first paragraph Statto but not at all with the second!

Wasn’t Jair Cunha man of the match in the Club World Cup against PSG having kept Gonçalo Ramos in his pocket and played a large part in their defence nullifying Kvara and Doue as well? The kid has pedigree against the best and it’s baffling to me that he can’t get a game over Morato (who clearly can’t play in a central 2). I don’t know why no one wants to give him a game, I expected him to break out like Murillo when given a few games and potentially threaten the Big Serb for his place. If Murillo is out he HAS to play for me.
 
andyd said:
I completely agree with your first paragraph Statto but not at all with the second!

Wasn’t Jair Cunha man of the match in the Club World Cup against PSG having kept Gonçalo Ramos in his pocket and played a large part in their defence nullifying Kvara and Doue as well? The kid has pedigree against the best and it’s baffling to me that he can’t get a game over Morato (who clearly can’t play in a central 2). I don’t know why no one wants to give him a game, I expected him to break out like Murillo when given a few games and potentially threaten the Big Serb for his place. If Murillo is out he HAS to play for me.
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The point is he hasn't played enough yet for us so we don't know how he will fit into the current setup and if that makes him a good fit or not.

It is quite easy to make a few good appearances in a tournament for a team when the pressure is off and then get a big move somewhere and not look as good. We have seen that plenty of times with players who looked good in a World Cup or Euros and then week in week out they're missing sitters. Jesus and Victor were in the same team as Cunha and (though I like Jesus a lot) haven't really delivered in the PL. JV looks error prone and Jesus hasn't scored anywhere near as many in the PL as you'd expect from a striker who had a good CWC. Nothing to say Cunha isn't going to be the same. He looked fine when he has played but let's look at what has happened when he has played for us
- 2-0 loss v Newcastle playing in a back 3, his only PL appearance, played 90 minutes
- 3-3 draw v Wrexham, played 90 minutes
- 3-2 loss v Swansea, played 45 minutes
There is some reason why Dyche is picking Morato ahead of him, he sees all the players in training, Morato isn't much older so it isn't necessarily that they are playing him because of experience.

I agree it's now getting to the point where Morato is partially or wholly to blame for goals we do concede and that whilst it's not good to say "well play Cunha because he can't be worse than Morato" - because he can - and we saw that with Vlachodimos and Turner, it's getting close.
 
Statto said:
I think it's clear why we were able to get Milenkovic for so little and how no-one has been interested in taking him. A good defender he is, but he is also not particularly quick and doesn't have good distribution. Murillo and he seem to complement each other well and hide each others' weaknesses but he has been at fault for quite a few situations this season even with Murillo playing.
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I think that's it. Murillo tends to be a bit more gung ho going forward which takes some of the pressure off, which allows Milenkovic to mop up. They're clearly a good pairing but it fills me with a bit of fear if Murillo goes at the end of the season. It's not just a case of getting another good defender, the replacement needs to share a similar style and mentality.
 
No he isn't.

What you are talking about is the disruption of an established centre-back partnership, futher destabilised by chucking in a youngster at right back.
 
Frankly, anyone writing-off the Serbian is an idiot.
 
And, he had a midfield in front of him that by the end, were making it up as they went.
 
I knew straight away as soon as Neco was sent off it would throw a huge spanner in the works for the Leeds game. Losing Murillo and Sels as well meant that 3/5 of our defence was missing. Shuffling the rest of our defenders and playing players in unfamiliar roles was never going to end well.
 
Quntib Hollox said:
I knew straight away as soon as Neco was sent off it would throw a huge spanner in the works for the Leeds game. Losing Murillo and Sels as well meant that 3/5 of our defence was missing. Shuffling the rest of our defenders and playing players in unfamiliar roles was never going to end well.
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Yes.

I immediately adjusted my vote in the Match-Day thread to "Alf-Inge Haaland" because I absolutely knew Forest were going to make a bollocks of it and lose.

If only I had money to put a wager on, but sadly I spend all my money on Bier, women, and fast cars.
 
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